KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — It was an eventful week in East Tennessee. Here's what you missed.
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"Tennessee fires Lady Vols head coach Kellie Harper"
Tennessee has fired women’s basketball head coach Kellie Harper, the University of Tennessee announced on Monday.
The school said a nationwide search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
"After seeking input from our student-athletes, I will begin an aggressive search process to find the next leader for our iconic women's basketball program," White said. "To protect the integrity of this process, you will not hear from me until we are ready to announce our new head coach."
"This is a result-driven profession and it can be hard sometimes," former Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer said. "Kellie and her family are wonderful and she has a great passion for her Lady Vols. I wish her and her family well."
Harper has been the head coach of Tennessee since 2019. In that time the furthest the Lady Vols have made it in the NCAA Tournament is the Sweet 16.
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'It was like a train coming' | Tornado hits Sunbright, leaving significant damage in small Morgan Co. community
A tornado that the National Weather Service said was "large and extremely dangerous" left damage across Morgan and Scott counties during a wave of severe weather Tuesday afternoon.
A Tornado Warning was issued for Campbell, Scott and Claiborne counties around 5 p.m. and a tornado was confirmed to have touched down as reports initially came in. The National Weather Service has yet to formally confirm the strength of the storm, but crews are working to assess the damage.
A Tornado Watch was issued for all of East Tennessee but was canceled shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
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"CCSO: Two arrested after woman found dead with deep cut to her throat"
A woman is dead after being cut deeply in her throat, the Cocke County Sheriff's Office said.
Around 7:59 p.m. on Tuesday, Polly Fox called 911 and told dispatchers she found her mom dead at her home in Newport, according to the CCSO.
When deputies responded they found Ola Schumacher dead on the floor with a deep cut to her throat, CCSO said.
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"THP: 16-year-old dead, 3 other teens injured with charges pending in overnight Anderson County crash on April 1"
The Tennessee Highway Patrol said a 16-year-old died after a crash in Anderson County, and three other teens were injured.
According to a preliminary report, a 14-year-old was driving south on Frost Bottom Road and approached an intersection when the driver lost control of the vehicle. THP said it came to an "uncontrolled final rest" against an embankment on Frost Bottom Road and Highway 116.
The THP said there were a total of three passengers in the car — all of them 16 years old. The two other 16-year-olds were injured in the crash, and so was the 14-year-old driver. The THP also said charges were pending against all of the teens. It also said none of them were wearing seatbelts.
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"One dead after train crashes into car in Sweetwater"
A woman died after a train hit a car in Sweetwater on Thursday.
According to the Sweetwater Police Department, investigators said a Norfolk Southern train hit a car that was stuck on the tracks at the Old Highway 68 intersection at Duck Park. Police said roads and track crossings on Main Street were shut down for an extended time as of 4 p.m.
Police said the victim, Charlotte Castillo-Wong from Sweetwater, had stopped on the tracks during peak traffic time and was unable to get out of the train's way. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Sweetwater Police and a friend of Charlotte have since provided 10News with more information on what happened.